Romney’s Theory on Why He Lost Election

Echoes his infamous '47 percent' comments

Nov 15, 2012, 8:40 pm EDT | By InvestorPlace Staff

Perhaps it’s a bit early, but Mitt Romney doesn’t appear to have learned much from his defeat at the hands of President Barack Obama last Tuesday.

In an call with some of his top donors yesterday, Romney said that he lost for this reason: “The president’s campaign, if you will, focused on giving targeted groups a big gift. He made a big effort on small things.”

Romney said that these groups included blacks, Hispanics, and young voters. He also blamed his defeat on Obama painting him as anti-immigrant.

In the discussion, Romney didn’t mention any of the missteps he and his campaign made, including his infamous “47 percent” comments, his lack of support for the auto industry bailout which almost certainly sunk him in Ohio and Michigan, his suggestion that illegal immigrants “self-deport”, or his changes of position on issues like abortion and gun control.

What did Obama’s “gifts” include? According to Romney, the president offered free health care in perpetuity, amnesty to children of illegal immigrants, free contraception coverage, partial forgiveness of student loan interest and the ability to remain on parents’ health insurance while in college.

Romney won 59% of the white vote, but white voters were 88% of those who voted for Romney. Romney lost by 11% to Obama on female voters, and Obama won 7 of 10 Hispanic voters and 9 of 10 black voters.

When told of Romney’s comments, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said “We have got to stop dividing the American voters. We need to go after 100 percent of the vote, not 53 percent. We need to go after every single vote.”

— Benjamin Nanamaker, InvestorPolitics Editor

The opinions contained in this column are solely those of the writer.

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